In collaboration with printmaker Kristina Chan
“Asterism” is a collection of limited edition, pigment prints on Japanese Washi paper. The pieces are based on imagery sourced from the Hubble telescope, which were then recomposed and reproduced by hand as screen prints by the artists. These final modern constellation maps have been produced as pigment prints on Japanese Washi paper.
The heavens have been a natural refuge and safe haven for centuries and civilisations throughout history. We look into the sublime and we see ourselves. But it is all we can do, see ourselves in the promise of infinity. Early hunter gatherers saw animals and young female forms, and the 17th Century Constellation Mania gave pride of place to geographical features like rivers, crests of wealthy families or even telescopes, as an attempt to banish old pagan myths and beliefs.
What present day hopes, fears, myths and aspirations would we project onto the skies if we had to redraw the constellations? The interplay between the ancient and the modern, the traditional and the contemporary, both in concept and medium mimics the artist’s re-imaginings of contemporary culture’s constellations.
These new constellations reflect our society today in all its brevity, satire, beauty, and collapse.
Medium: Pigment print on Awagami Kozo Thin Washi paper
Sizes: 152cm X 226cm
Exhibited at:
Serendipity Arts Festival , Goa, 2019
Project 88, Mumbai, 2016
One Amazing Thing, 2022